


Failures of Auradon

by KoreanGal55555



Series: Auradon and the Isle [1]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: (If you can call it politics at all in the Isle), Angst, BAMF Carlos, BAMF Evie, BAMF Jay, BAMF Mal, Child Abuse, Darker Than Disney, Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Humbled airheads and brats, Ignorant Auradon Kids, Learning trying isn't the same as doing, Politically savvy AKs, Politics of Auradon, Politics of the Isle, Protective Carlos, Protective Evie, Protective Jay, Protective Mal, Renaming the Rotten Four to the Forgotten Four, Rotten Four, The Isle Four treat each other like the family they wanted, The Isle learned who ruled, The Isle of the Lost is an evil place, The Rotten Four are the family they never had, United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect, Villains don't love their children, Villains love themselves, You mess with one of them and you mess with them all, chosen family, mostly movie compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-27 02:57:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15015152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KoreanGal55555/pseuds/KoreanGal55555
Summary: Where the AKs see the VKs truly. Where the VKs are not villains but victims. Where the AKs are not heroes but the problem. Where Auradon failed the Isle. Where AKs and VKs learn from one another.A / N: I have only watched the movies and after reading stories here, I thought I'd quickly try my hand at revealing life on the Isle as it is, not as it is romanticized to be, to those at Auradon Prep. (Chapters of various lengths.)





	1. Failure

Auradon, they realize, has fallen - has failed. 

Because as much as they know about the hidden blades of politics and capricious whims of the public; as much as they prepare with every scrap of knowledge they can for every meeting, transaction, dinner, conversation, and interaction; as much as they have put down physical swords and javelins for the winding puzzles of words and twisting guidelines of manners; as much as they try, they also know failure. 

They know when a business deal has fallen through and losses must be cut, when alliances are broken whether amicably or by coincidences that look too much like malicious design, when excuses are weak and flimsy but used anyways to justify actions, when-

They _know_ failure. 

And, regardless of preparation and information, they know that failure is, at times, inevitable. 

(They can't always succeed but that doesn't stop them from trying to not fail - from brushing up on old manners that may one day prove useful in impressing someone, for practicing a language over and over until it sounds as smooth as silver and can act as such too, from dancing even with two left feet that are bruised and swollen and ache until the movement is fluid and perfect, from covering heavy bags and dark circles and bruises from too-hard practice with near-empty make-up containers, from desperately checking international relations and the stock market and exchange rates of their country, from losing sleep to research and learn and prepare for the next time so that they don't fail again.) 

They know failure, because they are not perfect.

It's something they make their peace with because they must. 

But the failures that they prepare for and have experienced - the lessons they have learned - have nothing on the failures that they learn from the fate of - on the lessons taught to - the Children living on the Isle of the Lost. 

They have failed, and it's a bitter apple to swallow because they are not perfect but they thought they were, at least,  _good_. 

It's hard to claim when the Children on the Isle of the Lost come to live in Auradon. 


	2. Food

When the Children of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella de Vil - the Villains' Kids (the VKs), the Rotten Four, they whisper under dainty hands and saccharine high pitches - enter Auradon Prep, they are all exactly as expected. 

They're rude and rough, acting and reacting before thinking. They flirt and insult in the same breath, a sort of politics that the students at Auradon  _are_ familiar with - though they did not expect the VKs to do the same even if it was in a more crude manner. They keep to themselves mostly and are late to almost every class in almost practiced unison. Pranks become common in the halls, rude and mean but, fortunately, not deadly. 

However, there is a "safe zone" of sorts that the AKs realize as the school year goes on - the cafeteria, or rather, mealtime. 

Initially, it is as usual. 

The VKs supplement their utensils with their hands, piling plates high and cleaning them with a savageness that the other students (mostly) turn their noses at; of course those of the Isle wouldn't know  _manners_. Even Evie, who avoids using her hands except for finger foods, keeps her elbows on the table - as do the rest - until after the Coronation and everything involving it. 

Then, the students debate bringing up the behavior, the topic, at the risk of losing that safety. 

Because they slowly see hunched shoulders and darting eyes. They see snacks stashed in bags and plates carried to rooms, the VKs' presence on-time at every meal despite the difficulty in emulating the same for classes. They see the Four's fascination with sweets and fruits, the willingness to try everything regardless of strangeness, the passing of food that's not to one's taste to another's plate but never into the trash or left uneaten. 

But a few days after the Coronation, when Ben and Doug have dared to join the Four at the table enough that the VKs tease their hesitation-

("Are you waiting for an invitation?" Mal asks, lips quirked in a smirk that looks less sharp and almost fond. 

"Don't worry. We don't bite," Carlos comments, transforming his now-softer features and matching the look.

"Much," Evie adds, indulgence and amusement intermingling in her tone and smile. 

"Or unless you ask," Jay reminds, winking at them with a smile Ben recognizes from Tourney - all confidence without any of the harmful edges.)

-and the two Auradon boys join the VKs for a movie after, it comes up naturally. 

("Kids on the Isle would kill for this," Evie sighs, biting into a cold slice of pizza. 

"Pizza?" Ben clarifies, voice hesitant. 

The four tense, sharing looks with one another. 

"This," Mal states finally, waving a hand at the table of food. 

"Junk food?" Doug guesses carefully. Their gazes waver at the question, but Mal shakes her head. 

" _All_ of this," she answers, mouth pressed into a thin line.) 

They don't get the full picture at once; they never do. The VKs give it to them in pieces, in comments said without thinking or deeper conversations late into the night. Doug and Ben, Lonnie and Jane are the first few to see the slow picture, to see the broad strokes of watercolor with its shades rather than just as water. 

But every piece of the puzzle, every added feature to the picture, every snapshot of the larger view is another peek into something that is decidedly-

Cruel.

Because they learn, over time, that food in the Isle is low in supply and high in demand. It is rarely intact, let alone fresh. It comes in a large pile of scraps and garbage, something to scavenge and fight over. They learn that the VKs know which flora and fauna around campus is edible and which is not, know the immediate effects of ingesting different fungi just by looking at it but not its name, know when food is bad and when it is  _bad_ , know so much about the line between edible and inedible when there's so much food and food  _waste_ -

(The VKs hiss at the amount of food in the trash can, tensing because  _what a waste_ -

It never fails to put the group in a bad mood.

And down the line, when the Rotten Four - the Forgotten Four, as they become in the textbooks and historical works - nervously yet firmly present a proposal to Ben about transferring food waste from Auradon Prep to the Isle of the Lost, the four are the only ones bewildered and surprised by the support it gains not only in the school but nation-alliance-wide; for once, the VKs don't stop to ask what the price will be and no one points it out. It takes time for the Four to accept that this isn't bribes or favors but reparations.)

They learn that food simply isn't there.

They learn that they were -  _are_ \- cruel. 

They learn that they have failed their people, because despite their ignorance, the Isle of the Lost is still their people. 


	3. Fruit

In hindsight, Ben wants to slap himself for not realizing. 

("Strawberries," Mal hums, voice losing its usual edge. 

"I prefer blueberries," Evie teases, bumping shoulders with the girl. 

"I could eat blackberries all day," Carlos admits, scratching Dude behind the ears. 

"Cherries aren't so bad," Jay muses, expression flirty as he adds, "and tying a stem into a knot is just proof of my prowess."

Mal rolls her eyes, and Evie gives the male a look; someone - not one of the VKs - throws a grape at him in complaint, which he catches and eats with a teasing wink.

"You know you want me," he boasts, flexing.

This time, a pillow smacks him in the face.)

But he doesn't realize then and neither do the other Auradon students. 

They wonder how they could have missed the fact that if food rarely made it intact to the Isle of the Lost, fruit must have been worse. 

They wonder how the VKs are as active and healthy as they are without the necessary nutrients.

They wonder how they failed so quickly because when asked what tastes best in the dining halls, the answer shouldn't be fruit. 


	4. Fabric

They don't think about it too much. 

Because there isn't so much that they can do. Throwing money, giving gifts, negotiating, or anything else - it doesn't work. There's nothing to say or argue for because old habits die hard, and the process is gradual, already working at its own pace. 

It starts with shorter sleeves or the forgoing of tough leggings under skirts, progressing from leather to softer cloths. It moves to the reveal of elbows and knees, the flash of thigh and shoulder. It isn't dressing more like an Auradon Kid that is the change (though it is sort of a change), but it's what the change means. 

And they are  _so_ careful with each change. 

Because each one, each inch of skin revealed or leather shell shed, is another sign that the VKs are trusting, trusting the AKs - the children of the very people who led to their upbringing, to the Isle of the Lost and its twisted culture. 

And they know (now) not to bring it up, because it's obvious just from looking who the VKs and AKs are. 

It isn't just preference for fabric-

(Because the VKs are wearing _less_ leather, not  _no_ leather to some AKs' chagrin.)

or style-

(Because the VKs stick to the function before fashion rule almost religiously while the AKs roll their eyes at the upfront inability.) 

-or tans.

(Because AKs may be pale as snow but VKs are translucent like ghosts.) 

Skin revealed is trust because skin is weak. 

("Hard to cut through leather," Evie mutters, adjusting his collar so that his neck is covered. 

"Denim works in a pinch too," Carlos reminds, holding up a pair of denim pants and tilting his head. 

"If you've got it, use it," Jay throws back, taking and tossing the article of clothing back into the closet. "Ready?"

Later, when the four are on the Isle, Ben will wonder why neither that conversation nor the nearly all-encompassing outfits didn't ring alarms.) 

It is warning because scars count. 

("That was a knife. A few inches over and might have gotten my heart."

"Cigarette butts. I don't want to talk about it." 

"Broke my bone out of the skin. I was delirious for two months and almost ate a boot."

"You'd be surprised by how much infections can hurt.") 

It is fear because change is not easy.

(It's a simple comment, something Audrey doesn't even think about because she plays on her confidence and air-headedness. 

But the next day, the Four are back to leather - neck to toe - scowls fixed upon their faces like day one.

No one blames her because it wasn't meant to be what it was, but the VKs take longer to trust again. 

And if Audrey takes them out shopping, using her whirlwind personality to her advantage, no one blames her for that either.) 

They know more than anyone else that clothing is a war in of itself. It is a sign of wealth, of reach, of power. It is a dance and a battle. It is a weapon in appearances and means more than any average citizen would think. And they thought that the Four were simply the same - citizens in the Isle of the Lost instead of the royalty that they truly were (perhaps not in Auradon, but definitely in the Isle). 

But as they realize again and again, they have failed.

Because the Isle of the Lost is, itself, war, and no one is spared - royalty or not. 


	5. Feathers

There is nothing that can be said for this one. 

They share glances, concern layered under confusion which gives way to indignation and guilt.

The more they learn and see and hear and realize, the more they see their failure and feel the clutch of cruelty mock them. Because Auradon is perfect and lovely and nice and-

("Utter bull-"

It's the first time Ben allows a swear word to pass his lips, alone in his office after a trying day talking with the Council.

Because the Council can only seek its own gain and cannot look at the VKs as more than a liability. 

It's not, unfortunately, the last time he curses the older generations.)

There's something oddly frustrating about the wariness the VKs have. Because their caution shouldn't be necessary, especially not when the "enemy" is a songbird flutters near their picnic, twittering in its high-pitched chatter. 

(The butterknife in Evie's hand looks like a scythe when paired with her hard stare, and Carlos looks rabid, almost vicious. Jay's hands tremble as if resisting the urge to clench into a fist and hurt while Mal is already raising a rock with practiced and confident aim.

The poor avian is saved from its near demise, but the Four eye it warily the rest of the picnic while explaining the temperament of the birds that exist on the Isle - mean cries with the habit of sneaking and stealing whatever catches their eye, cruel scavengers that grow the size of dogs and cats, sharp beaks that aren't afraid to attack or to prey on inhabitants alive or dead.

"I guess even the animals in Auradon are nicer," Mal muses, staring at the small bird with careful consideration. 

"Makes it harder to believe Snow White won against the Evil Queen without birds doing her bidding through her mind-controlling singing though," Evie mutters lowly, not quite meant to be heard...and that's something to address later.) 

They wish and pray and hope that one day, the VKs will become AKs - not because they are different or annoying or strange or  _evil_ or whatever else the Council and other naysayers deem them.

They want that because they want the VKs to have the life the Four should have had - the life the Four deserved and they failed in delivering. 


End file.
